These sessions will provide an overview of Pace’s Conferencing and Communication Solutions with a focus on Microsoft Lync and its dial in conferencing feature that ITS will be enabling this month in grouped stages. Faculty and Staff will be receiving a notice from ITS Help Desk with the subject Welcome to Dial In Conferencing when their accounts have been enabled.

Still wondering what Microsoft Lync is all about? Preview a quick explanation below.

What is Microsoft Lync?
Pace’s ITS Division has implemented new Voice Over IP (VoIP) solutions as we strive to provide the latest tools to foster classroom and work collaboration. Microsoft Lync provides integrated audio, video and web conferencing, as well as business class instant messaging with real time presence information. Lync was initially piloted by ITS and select university adopters and resulted in greatly improved communication and collaboration. The feature rich conferencing platform provides Webex-like functionality, with the ease and convenience of Microsoft Outlook based scheduling.

Why should I use Microsoft Lync?Conference Benefits: Many individuals are located at various locations and scheduling face-to-face meetings are not always easy. To add to that, sharing documents while on a conference call can be cumbersome if everyone isn’t on the same page. Using Outlook, one can easily schedule an audio/video conferencing session straight from your desktop with another individual or several other individuals all through a calendar invite in Microsoft Outlook. While in the conferencing session you can also share your screens to maximize collaboration.

Chat Benefits: This application permits individuals to see when you are Available, in a Meeting, Busy, Do Not want to be Disturbed, Off Work, or Away. Having this capability allows them to know when it is possible to reach out to you via the chat feature. For quick consultations or discussions, this is the perfect tool that saves an e-mail or a phone call. Microsoft Lync also saves conversations in a dedicated folder under your mailbox called Conversation History – great for referencing! You will also notice that if you are away from your desk and someone sends you an Instant Message (IM), it will come into your inbox as a Missed Conversation, so you don’t have to worry about missing a message if someone reaches out to you.

Where can I access more information about Microsoft Lync or obtain training?
Please visit our Microsoft Lync site for details, documentation, and training videos or to register for instructor-led training provided by Microsoft: Microsoft Lync Training. For one-on-one training offered through the User Services department, please view our Instructor-led Outline that is located through the IT Training site. Select Instructor-led Sessions and follow the instructions to register for your own personalized session!